(NewsNation) — After a historic vote led by a small group of Republicans, the House of Representatives voted to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Virginia Rep. Bob Good joined NewsNation to explain why he cast a vote to vacate the speakership, something that has never happened before.
Good said the deciding factor was McCarthy’s decision to pass a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded through Nov. 17 with the help of Democrats in the House rather than allowing the government to shut down over disputes on spending.
“That is a throwback to the failures of the past,” Good said.
A number of Republicans had refused to vote for any continuing resolution that didn’t include steep spending cuts, something McCarthy had ruled out during debt limit negotiations with the White House. Some in the GOP objected, pressuring McCarthy to go back on the agreement and make deep cuts to non-defense spending.
“We will choose a speaker that will better reflect this conservative Republican conference that will be a fighter against the Democrat agenda,” Good said.
Good called the agreement, which prevented the U.S. from defaulting on its debt, a failed deal.
“McCarthy said it saved $2 trillion. That’s a projected savings if another Congress comes in and doesn’t increase spending again,” Good said. “There were no year one cuts in that.”
With McCarthy out of the speaker role and interim Speaker Patrick McHenry holding the gavel, the House is unable to hold votes or bring bills to the floor until a new speaker is selected. The process of selecting a new speaker is not expected to begin until Tuesday.
Good said he views the situation as preferable to keeping McCarthy in power.
“Frankly, if we don’t have a leader, if we don’t have a fighter, if we don’t have a partner in fighting against the radical Democrat policies and the radical Democrat spending then the American people are going to continue to lose,” he said.
Good dismissed Republicans who were critical of the move as part of a corrupt system in Washington.
“They have been part of that system, and they had defended and advocated for it. So obviously, there’s a natural instinct to try to continue to do so now to justify that,” he said.
As for who he would like to see replace McCarthy, Good said he had some ideas of who he would like to see lead the House majority, but declined to share those names publicly.